Watkins Glen Intl. pulls out of contract to host Woodstock 50

A little over two months remain before Woodstock is said to host its golden year event. The event, planned for August 16-19, was set on a venue home at Watkins Glen International (WGI). Now, in a ninth-hour move, the venue has pulled out of its contract with its organizers, sparking continued speculation surrounding Woodstock Ventures LLC’s poor planning.

“Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract,” a rep for the racetrack said in a press statement. “As such, WGI will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival.”

Over the past few months, Woodstock has faced unprecedented obstacles in the planning of its 50th-anniversary event. The setbacks first began when the festival’s financier, Dentsu Aegis, pulled its funding and announced a full cancellation of the event. This all began a mere week before the tickets were set to go on sale. From a PR perspective, the announcement was a near-death sentence.

Then, a New York federal judge ruled the announcement negligent, saying the fanciers had no right to cancel the event. However, the ruling did nothing for Woodstock LCC plaintiffs insofar that the judge did not require Dentsu investors to return any of the money it had taken from the festival bank account.

While Woodstock Ventures LLC was able to obtain new investors from Oppenheimer & Co., organizers are still scrambling to secure a necessary mass gathering permit from New York State. Now, Woodstock is in search of an entirely new venue altogether.

“We confirm that we will not be moving forward with Watkins Glen as a venue for Woodstock 50,” says organizer Gregory Peck to Rolling Stone. “We are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on August 16th — 18th and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.”

Only 67 days remain until Woodstock 50 is set to open its gates and organizers are dead set that the event is still happening. Yet, potential attendees still haven’t been given so much as a ticketing platform. If by some chance the event does happen as promised by organizers, it’s shaping up to be an enter-at-your-own-risk situation. Announced headliners, of whom haven’t pulled out yet, include The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Santana, Dead & Company, Chance the Rapper, Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons and Halsey, among others.

This story is still developing.

Source: Rolling Stone